MC Withdraw 3 month subscription

[TinyShenanigans 0]

So i bought this game last week, steam limited edtion, and have been playing the online Planet Mode on my free trial.

Really enjoyed building my town into a city, trading and chatting with other city builders, but was unsure of whether or not i could justify buying a subscription, paying money for things (e.g. the bus system) that probly should have been in the single player game in the first place, but i guess that's a topic for another thread.

My free week of planet offer ends tomorrow and yesterday I'd decided to go ahead and get a 3 month sub, gah my wages hadn't cleared, no worries i'll do it in the morning....or not.  Seems that MC have decided to withdraw the 3 month subscription offer (and the 2 month as well) leaving only the worst value deal. the 1 month, available.

I put in a ticket cause at first i thought that the site was having trouble as in a number of places the 3 month offers and it's prices were mentioned but clicking on "subscribe" only led to the 1 month plan.  I mentioned this in my ticket...couple hours later all reference to the 3 month deal has been removed from their site, no warning, no reply to my enquiries.

The in game tutorial (under planet tutorials>planet offer details) still lists the 2 and 3 month deals and quotes a price too >.<

All in all i think this is a pretty rubbish move for a couple of reasons, I was finding it hard to justify spending a monthly amount for this, but the 3 month deal at under £4 a month seemed ok-ish, also the timing of it (just around two weeks til christmas) seems a little crappy.

Sorry for ranting/rambling just needed to let off steam and let anyone who didn't know, know.  A  number of folks i've been chatting to in-game have sent tickets in protesting/lodging a complaint about this, maybe something can be done about it that way.

Shen.

P.S:- If you're on a recurring 3 month sub plan. i.e. your subscription was set to automatically renew when it runs out, you might need to look into that. - EDIT: see site400's post below for some information on this:

https://www.simtropolis.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=370&threadid=112068&enterthread=y#1656052

UPDATE: Received an E-mail reply to my enquiries seems to be pretty much what Matthew from MC quotes later in this thread, I'm gonna quote it here so it can be seen on the first page of this thread

 

Dear Customer,

First of all, we would like to thank you for taking an interest in Cities XL.

Thank you for your e-mail.

Since the release of Cities XL, we have received a lot of feedback about the game, its extra content and features, the available subscription options, etc... And for this we want to say "thanks" to all our players.

We carefully noted and considered all the suggestions and remarks that have been made and we inform you that we are currently working on a revision of our Planet Offer model.

As result of this ongoing process the 2 months and 3 months subscription, as the recurrent payment system, have been suspended for the moment.

We are aware of the inconveniences that this transaction might generate and we apologise for this, but you can be sure that our main purpose, which is to provide the best service possible, still remains unchanged.

Thanks again for playing Cities XL,

Kind regards,

the Cities XL team

quote>

So it looks like they are currently revising the Planet Offer, no indication of how or when that might be, gonna keep my eye on it over the next few months and hope for some good news.

[Evillions 552]

I saw it too, but seems dumb what MC did. Either they are in the need for more money or something else.

[pete1061 0]

That was really a stupid move on the part of MC.

I just sent them a support ticket telling them I will not re-new my subscription until the re-instate the old pricing.

I suggest all of us who subscribe tell MC. If there is anything this community needs to speak out on it's this one.

I'm kinda angry about this. The PO was barely worth it a $6/month but is definitely not worth it at $9.25/month.

That is a 50% increase in prices!!

MC just shot themselves in the foot.

I'm willing to bet they will lose money by raising prices.

[El_Presidente 0]

It's this lack of communication that really puts me off the game. It's a nifty little game and all which shows great premise if everything is as good as the bus system, but complete lack of communication about anything by MC really puts me off.

They don't tell us anything, they just there in their ivory tower, occasionally throwing us down a loaf of bread to keep us happy, but not actually telling us what the future holds.

You can't launch a big MMO community based kind of game when you refuse to interact with the community in anyway whatsoever. Especially when you delete your own official forums and use the forums of a fansite for another game.

[StephenJ 0]

I was planning on subscribing soon... not anymore. Why do this? If it's because they need more money I have one message: It's your own fault and this doesn't help.

Removed swearing - abcvs

[simidavid 0]

This was a bad move from MC, considering that we are still recession-weary. They should've just lowered prices to attract more people, which would add up to their bottom line, since there would be more people paying. But, as we know, MC has done some mistakes in the past, and most certainly will do them in the future!

[ACEH 0]

Hey, what's up with you MC!? Yesterday I finally decided to make a 3 month subscription but I left it for today and now I'm reading this post. Where did the 3 month subscription gone!? You're on the wrong move you should know!

[littlesquare.dot 0]

 ..and to think, I've been consistently pooped on for calling MC and/or their handlers greedy.

This entire release has been an absurdly mismanaged cash grab.  

At least communicate with us for crying out loud!

[jochem100 0]

oooh,oooh MC.

Nice action. punnishing the people who actually trusted MC and wanted to give them time to come up with good things, while paying for PO

If they are in moneytrouble already, this could be bad for cities xl. there gonna pull the plug on it sooner than expected maybe....

Mathew_MC seems to be the only one regurlarly reading and posting here, but communication for their side is very poor.

Its so easy to every now and then post a screenshot of some work in progress, tell people you are aware of the memory leak and expect to resolve it in the next few weeks, or whenever. Also no words about the trains, subways, road packs, decoration packs..... nothing. I bought the game and was planning to go PO when (most of the) mass transsit is finished. Now i begin to think there wont be any mass transsit (exept the busses off course(wich i dont get in solo allthough it was told we would get them)). This game could very well end up in the trash bin..

Thanks Monte Cristo

[mntoes 270]

Another game with some promise bites the dust. With this move the only place CitiesXL is heading is down the pan. So long.....

Will I ever purchase an MC game again? I don't think so,

Mind you with luck this will ensure they are not around for much longer. With customer service and contempt for the regular subscribers this bad they have sealed their fate. As we say in the UK "vote with your feet"

[kiwispanker 1]

wow. just heard the nasty news here on simtropolis. i always told myself that i'd get the PO once at least one addition to mass transit was implemented.

money is definitely not a problem here on my end - i just think MC is acting completely sketchy (since what...the beginning). if i was an investor for MC, i'd find some way to pull my money out quick.

very, very sad news. no PO for me.

[TinyShenanigans 0]

Just a little update, been contacting most of the cities xl community sites about this issue, with MC's reluctance to talk about the matter (still waiting on a reply to my ticket/e-mail thingy) and the lack of any real central place to discuss the game I thought I'd get it out to as many sections of the community as possible.

Send in an email to MC about it if you haven't already and this affects you, like I say they have no central place to discuss the game so the only way to let them know about dis-satisfaction is to contact them directly.

MC's Contact page : https://www.citiesxl.com/content/view/2382/133/

Shen.

[Craig-Abcvs 1,595]

Heads up people.  

If this thread is to remain open, the discussion here needs to remain thoughtful and respectful.

I have already removed one post containing masked swearing and racial insults.    

This is not acceptable posting behaviour on Simtropolis.

If this thread degenerates into yet another gripe fest or simply taken as another opportunity to rake over all the same complaints it will be closed.

We don't want to hear it.

[TinyShenanigans 0]

This thread is certainly not meant as an invitation to flame MC or engage in the type of behaviour abcvs mentions above, merely an attempt to (rightly) let the community know about something that affects them.

Please stay on topic and keep it civil please.

Shen.

[soltangris 42]

Only to voice an optimistic opinion in a pessimistic thread:

What if they're recalculating the 2 and 3 months offers? Maybe they're busy with their accountants right now trying to figure out the best variants in light of a new policy... (like the release of byable content??)

Just a thought. And please feel welcome to flame me and brand me as a pro-MC idiot

[TinyShenanigans 0]

That's the sort of half-insane optimistic thought that's in the back of my head too, hoping that could be the reason for it lol.

From reading some of the stickies here though about the early development and stuff of this game, optimistic speculation has a habit of being well....wrong.

Still keeping my fingers crossed though.

Shen

[pipvac 0]

I enjoy Cities XL, and from the start subscribed to the 3 month deal. The value for money aspect of the online content was always dubious, but I was happy to be part of the initial uptake and investment. This was, in my small way, my contribution to the game's on going development, to where it should have been at release.

The removal of the three month subscription, without any adjustment to the monthly rate (an effective price increase of 175%), has pushed the value for money element of this game from just about acceptable, to over priced. Its not a question of whether I can afford it, its a measure of whether it offers value for money at the price asked.

To be clear to MC. I will NOT be renewing my subscription to Cities XL at this pricing level.

I wish MC well in their future endeavour with this game, and hope that their strategy going forward enables them to make this product viable. I regret that I do not represent the target customer for this new strategy.

[Cthuulhu 0]

I'm sorry abcvs, I should have put more consideration into what I think is funny wording before putting it on your forums, won't happen again.

Now, this 9.95 per month has raised a few concerns and they aren't my paying 9.95 per month after my 3 month subscription expires.

1)what effect will this have on the community? their servers aren't full and I've been seeing quite a bit of complaining about low population and economic activity on some planets, mainly caliban.

2)theres know way of knowing, but are we going to be looking at price increases with every success of CitiesXL? Beautiful subway systems, no more memory leak, freight rail systems with huge affordable freight options, those are other successes in MCs future (i hope) but with no communication Its in the back of my mind that a day or two after they add/change something that reinvigorates my wanting to play the game I can expect some sort of price hike with no communication surrounding it.

3)if I were an investor and I played the game just to see what its like and this increase came across the way it did I'd be a bit scared, actually I'd be alot scared lol. And its not the raise in rent. They don't realize that with an mmo, which they want to be, people want communication about the company. It might be the only platform where customer rely on a game company for not only content and patches after the debut but communication and lots of it.

I really enjoy the game and the forums that the game has introduced me to, it would be a shame if it were to go into a crumble over poor communication. For me the few more dollars per month is acceptable price wise. The complete lack of communication is the sting.

[TinyShenanigans 0]

Greybeard's Empire now has a short bit on the price adjustment.

http://citiesxl.oldmmogamers.net/

Which is nice.

Shen.

[site400 12]

I have a 3-month subscription and noticed yesterday morning that other users were talking about the removal of the 2 & 3-month plans. So I went and checked the website and sure enough, only the 1-month plan was available. So I went to my account to look at my subscription status and theres a button that said "Cancel auto-renewal."

I then went back to the site 8 hours later, checked my account, and the button was changed to read "Subscribe for more time."

So I don't think they're recalculating the rates, I think they just dropped the discount plans all together. Regardless, I won't be clicking on a "subscribe for more time" button anytime soon....

[TinyShenanigans 0]

Right, so from what site400 is saying it looks like people with a recurring 3 month subscription will not be able to keep their discounted rates after their current subscription runs out.  That answers one question i guess from my OP.

Cheers mate.

Shen.

[TinyShenanigans 0]

As a funny/tragic aside my free week ran out a few minutes back, the next time i log on to the game I am met with this screen:

EDIT:- those prices are different from the old ones, 3 month sub used to be £11.95 i think here it's listed as £18.95...does that mean anything...who knows.

Shen.

[Sainty 0]

They are probably making research for the game regarding how citizens will and shall react when the taxes are raised to 30%.

I have been in contact with MC, they said that they needed to check few things before making a public comment on this matter.

[TinyShenanigans 0]

Thanks Sainty for the info, hope to hear MC's response on it soon.

Shen.

[soltangris 42]

Look, the half-insane optimism is one think, but to make definite statements of the sort 'I told you they're greedy' before we even got a definite answer as to the new rates/new plans, is a bit overreacting, I think.

I'm not at the least happy that the monthly price would raise. I think it would be a bad business decision on MC's part, BUT we don't know any details yet. My guess that they're readjusting rates could even mean they'll actually lower them, for all we know! Of course, keeping in mind that they were kinda low already, this possibility is a remote one....

I'll be waiting on an official statement and/or new prices shown on the site, before delivering a judgement.

[thecross21 3]

I was willing to pay for the 3 month since I got a better deal, but I will not pay 9 bucks a month to play a game.

[SimCityFanatic 0]

Sigh this will only give more ammo to the ones who dislike the game.

As for me,  I was planning on getting PO when I got the game after they implemented transports into the game.  I still plan on trying out online, but instead of the 3 month I will go for the 2 month since thats around the old price.  I dont like the price hike, but they have servers to run and bills to pay while completing the game.  Its reality people.  They are a small gaming company, not like Activision and Bliz. 

MC is off to a rough start,  I just hope they realize its better to build a good product then line there own pockets with money and pay raises.  Alot of companies tend to do that and forget the product.  Build the product then get lots of subscribers to get your porshe.  Dont raise subscriptions now to get your porshe with a incomplete game. 

[TinyShenanigans 0]

SimCityFanatic - there is no 2 month deal unfortunately mate.

The 1 month deal is the only offer now available as of 09/12/09, sorry if i didn't make that clear in my first post.

Sainty here has been in touch with MC and says we should see a public announcement from them soon.

Shen.

[site400 12]

I think MC is going downhill really quick. Found an article from July 08 that talked about them getting a 4 million euro ($7 million) check from various venture capitalist groups and back then the expected release date was 1Q 09. They are obviously 9 months behind schedule and now, with the boxed price going for a 50% discount on Steam, a 25% discount on Amazon and GameStop, are in dire need of some serious capital. An unless everyone here is lying about not buying the game, they're probably not moving as much product as needed.

Ironically, I visited the Monte Cristo corporate website last week (www.montecristogames.com) and browsed through their company profile, locations, employees etc. That website no longer exists, per se, and now redirects to the cities xl website. (go to google, search for montecristogames, and then view the "cached" version of the site).

Even if they get their prices squared away and back to what they were I'm beginning to doubt they'll be around for very much longer and am hesitant to even resubscribe.

[warrior 169]